Much Ado About Nothing

To what extent do the characters of Much Ado About Nothing evolve through the play ?

In the play, there is seven main characters, but five, really important.

First, there is Beatrice, Leonato's niece and Hero's cousin, she's witty, and she speaks her mind, no matter what people think or say. She is one of the first speakers of the play. She wages a war of spirit against Benedick and often wins the battles. At the outset of the play, she appears content never to marry. In the course of the play, she is very easily tricked into believing that Benedick is madly in love with her, and conversely.

Benedick seems to be a different man at the end of the play. Indeed, at the beginning, he swears he will never fall in love or marry because he doesn't trust in love. To his observant friends, he seems to feel some deeper emotion below the surface. Upon hearing Claudio and Don Pedro talking about Beatrice's desire for him, he swore to be madly in love with her. This change in attitude and convictions seems to confirm during the scene next that of the announcement of Hero infidelity. Benedick who should follow one of his bestfriends, Claudio, he turns finally to Beatrice. Their love is there only too obvious. At the end, they get married.

Then, there is Claudio, he is a well-respected nobleman and a young soldier who fall in love with Hero upon his return to Messina. His suspicious nature makes him quick to believe bad rumors and unfortunately, he is also very vengeful. When he fall in love with Hero, he want get marry in the week, but Don John doesn't hold this view and sabotage this weeding. Innocent, he trust Don John and accuse Hero of being unfaithful. He realizes that he has been deluded only when it's to late. He is the one who gives the poem written by Beatrice which prove her love, to Benedick. At the end, Hero and Claudio get married.

Hero, the beautiful daughter of Leonato and Beatrice's cousin is lovely, silent and kind. She falls in love with Claudio when he falls for her, but when Don John slanders her and Claudio takes revenge, she suffers terribly. She is the part of the delusiveness of the play. Hero is one of the shadows of the play, she obeys whatever order she's given. At the end, she's also the one who gives the poem written by Benedick which prove his love, to Beatrice.

Finally, Don Pedro, of all the main characters in Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro seems the most elusive. He's the Prince of Aragon, a longtime friend of Leonato and is also close to the soldiers who have been fighting under him (Benedick and Claudio). Don Pedro is generous, courteous, intelligent, he is the most powerful character in the play. He has been plotting since the beginning, he's the puppeteer of the play, and he pulls the strings of each of the characters. Unlike his bastard brother, the villain Don John, Don Pedro most often uses his power to positive ends. Throughout the play, he wants to prove that it's him who is a prince and that it's him who holds the power. But at the end, he realizes that he can't control everything.

Last but not least, Don John, the plain-dealing villain of the play. He's Don Pedro's half-brother but he looks like him not in the least except for the manipulation.

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